Winter is a time to hunker down inside, a time to catch up on books you’ve been meaning to read or binge-watch shows you felt too guilty to watch when the weather was warm. But Dr. Jingli Ma, a pulmonologist at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, said it’s also prime time for asthma flare-ups. Here are five things […]

By Crystal Grimes, NP, APN, MSN, Obstetrics & Gynecology Nurse Practitioner in Revere, Mass. Many women don’t think using marijuana while pregnant or breastfeeding is a big deal, but early studies show it can harm baby.

Marijuana is a hot topic, as new debates about its safety and legalization crop up every week. I have conversations with my patients every day about marijuana use during pregnancy.

By Brian Clark, MD Gastroenterology in Stoneham, Mass. In recent decades, more young people have developed colon and rectal cancers than before. The rate of colon cancer found in those ages 20-29 rose up to 2.4 percent per year from the mid-1980s through 2013, while the rate of rectal cancer among that age group rose […]

By David Miller, MD Neurology in Stoneham, Mass. Epilepsy can be unpredictable. Some of my patients have multiple seizures every day, while others go years without having a seizure, only to have one out of the blue. Obviously this is frustrating for people with epilepsy and their families. So, it’s probably no surprise that one […]

By Phillip Gray, M.D. Hallmark Health Center for Radiation Oncology in Stoneham, Mass. I get many questions about radiation therapy from cancer patients and their families. How does it work? Is it safe? Why does it take so many treatments? And what are we doing to make the process easier? First off, it’s good to […]

By Jennifer Powell, D.O. Family Medicine in Malden, MA Patients need to feel comfortable talking openly about their health for doctors to provide care that gets to the root of the problem. However, that requires a lot of trust. We have to show patients that we really want to get to know them. That […]